Are influencers liable for trademark infringement?
Yes, they can be liable for trademark infringement. An “influencer” a “new” form of social media marketing, in my time we called them “paid spokespersons”, is someone with a lot of followers on social media who endorses or promotes products or services by encouraging followers to buy the brands they promote. By wearing a product […]
Is there is a Global Trademark?
Short answer is no. Intellectual property rights, such as those in trademarks, are territorial, meaning that protection of your trademark is granted in those jurisdictions where the mark is registered. However, there are international treaties that allows owners of registered trademarks to expand protection of their nationally registered trademarks to another countries. The Madrid Protocol allows […]
Can I use the image, name, likeness, or voice of a dead celebrity?
Most likely no. The right of publicity is an intellectual property right that protects a person’s name, likeness, nickname, pseudonym, voice, signature, likeness, or photograph that identify a particular individual. This right protects against the misappropriation for commercial purposes. Since there is no federal law that recognizes the right of publicity, publicity rights are protected […]
Can I protect a Board Game?
Yes. Designed your own board game? What forms of protection are available to protect a board game? Copyrights, Trademarks, and Patents. COPYRIGHTS Although the systems or processes that make up the core of a game, are not subject to copyright, the written rules, the design of the board, the cards, and other visual elements of […]
Can I protect a widely used commonplace expression?
Depends. A trademark or service mark which includes any word, name, symbol, device, or any combination “must” identify and distinguish the goods … from those manufactured or sold by others and … indicate the source of the goods, even if that source is unknown. Hence, a proposed trademark is registrable only if it functions as […]
Can I protect a hashtag or a tweet?
Yes. There are two venues of protection for a hashtag or tweet. As trademark or service mark which includes any word, name, symbol, device, or any combination, used or intended to be used to identify and distinguish the goods/services of one seller or provider from those of others, and to indicate the source of the […]
Trademarks Use or Loose them!
The United States trademark law is based on the common law first to use in commerce theory. Is the use of the mark in interstate commerce which creates rights over a trademark, not its registration! In the United States, US Applicants can base their applications on the following basis: Prior use of the trademark in interstate commerce, or; […]
Can I register the name, portrait, or signature identifying a particular living individual?
The short answer is yes, with written consent. More often than not, small business owners and entrepreneurs decide to use their name or last name to identify their products or services being provided. Trademark registration will be refused if consists of or comprises a name, portrait, or signature identifying a particular living individual except by […]
Update on the Booking.com Case and the use of generic trademarks and top-level domain names
In a most expected decision, on June 30, 2020, The Supreme Court of the United States ruled that adding “.com” to a generic word can make the entire combination eligible for trademark protection. Thus, affirming The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia decision reversing the denial of registration by the USPTO of booking.com […]
Can I prevent others from reselling my trademarked products?
In the U.S. “courts have recognized a basic limitation on the right of a trademark owner under the Lanham Act to control the distribution of its own products.” See Prestonettes, Inc. v. Coty, 264 U.S. 359, 44 S.Ct. 350, 68 L.Ed. 731 (1924), courts have consistently held that, with certain well-defined exceptions, the right of a producer to control distribution […]